scourge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skɜːd͡ʒ/ (UK); /skɜɹd͡ʒ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English scurge, scourge,^[2] from Anglo-Norman escorge,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} from Old French escorgier “to whip”,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} from Latin ex- + corrigia (“thong, shoelace”).^[3][2][4][5] Corrigia is probably from Gaulish,^[3][2][4] related to Old Irish cuimrech “fetter”.^[2][4] The verb is essentially a doublet of excoriate.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A whip or lash (probably before 1200 as scurge;^[2] before 1225 in the OED).^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century, largely through Bible translations, the word meant a divine punishment or affliction and one who inflicts it,^[2][4][7] as in the Scourge of God, a name given to Attila.^[4][7] It then came to mean any cause of widespread calamity, such as war or disease.^[7][3][5] The verb, to whip, is from about 1300,^[2][4] and the figurative sense to afflict or chastise is from 1382.^[7][4]

Timeline

• before 1200 – scurge, a whip.^[2]
• about 1300 – verb, to whip or flog.^[2][4]
• 1382 – an instrument of divine punishment; to chastise.^[2][7]
• about 1535 – one who lashes vice or folly.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A cause of widespread, dreadful suffering and devastation, such as pestilence or war.
2. A means of inflicting severe punishment, vengeance or criticism.
3. A whip used to inflict punishment; a lash.

Verb

1. To afflict with widespread suffering; to ravage.
2. To punish or criticize severely; to excoriate.
3. To flog with a whip.
4. To drive as if by blows of a whip.

Word family

• scourger
• scourgingly

Related words

• excoriate
• flagellate
• plague
• bane

Usage notes

Random House lists plague and bane as synonyms of the noun, and correct and castigate of the verb.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press